On the first page of this storybook painting called Ivory Tower, Falling Tower, the old monk studies inside an Eden-like space.

On the second page, much time has past. Buildings are falling and everything is grim, except the monk has a nice little snug room full of books. His angelic muse is a dog, looking strangely like my dog Alabama. Actually, the monk looks strangely like me, and his preoccupations are my own.